Lights out for 1M as winter storm slams Northeast

[No Elephants]

When are officials going to insist that utility companies do better? They had government protected monopolies for decades.

Cable TV companies could not dig up our streets to lay cable fast enough when they wanted to sell us cable TV and again when they wanted to go into the cable internet business. But, when it comes to saving lives, no worries. Just let a few people die in each storm or when too many air conditioners go on--very predictably in cities in the summer.


It's not only people who die from the cold. Some people are on machines that require electricity in order to stay alive and they are not only in hospitals.

A few storms ago, when some people were out of electicity for weeks, Governor Deval Patrick said maybe it was time to make utility companies put the lines underground.

He seemed surprised by his own comment, as though this idea had occurred to him for the first time in the existence of electricity. I have not heard a peep from him about that since. And, oh look, the electricity is out during the dead of winter again.

[No Elephants]

1. Oops. Here's the link for the above headline.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WINTER_WEATHER_STATE_BY_STATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-02-05-22-54-59

[Enthusiast]

2. I feel bad for anyone that loses their power. Underground would be far better.

We lost our power when the Derecho storm hit here in June of 2012. It was awful being without power for three days. We were so hot! It around 100°! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2012_North_American_derecho

That storm looked to me like an example of the effects of climate change. I have never seen a storm like that, anything like that, in my entire lifetime.

[No Elephants]

3. We need to make our representatives represent us.

I wish I knew for certain how to do that, but I think we have a much better chance to be heard on the local level than on the federal. I've testified before the state house, though not very well. Stage fright. Never tried the city council, though.